I was debating between a Ford focus and jetta tdi and went with the tdi. I do a lot of highway driving so I thought it fit my needs best. If I was looking at anything I'd go for a manual golf tdi, but my fiancee can't drive a 6speed

mac5155 wrote:The new ones have gotten a lot better. My point still stands though, but if you dont do much highway or long haul driving, go for it.

I’m sure the interiors are better. The air conditioning in my Wrangler was completely independent from the heater and was located under the dashboard. You had to reach down and turn it on separately. Mine was also the first year of fuel-injected engines (the venerable Jeep 4.0 liter straight six). The new ones aren’t much better on fuel economy, however. I see they get around 18–20 mpg. Mine pretty much got 18 mpg no matter what I did. I could probably have rolled it down a hill with the engine off and still somehow managed to get 18 mpg. On the other hand, it was fun to drive off-road and could go darn near anywhere, and there’s a near-endless array of accessories to pimp your ride. Want chrome door hinges? No problem. Accessory lights like you’re running Baja? You bet. New bumpers? There are literally dozens of options. I used to get big thick catalogs in the mail that were nothing but Wranger parts and accessories.

that 4.0 6 is one of the best engines known to man. its a shame they got away from it. that thing is a tank. with the endless accessories that you mention, tuffy lockboxes, etc, hockeynut could do a lot worse in terms of protecting his gear and having a pretty badass workbench on the go for his equipment (im gonna feel like an idiot if he isnt the photo guy im thinking of). the best part is the customization that you can do to fit his gear with racks, boxes, etc and still have a nice, fun ride for play time. im a jeeper, so i have a biased opinion, but the versatility of the JK/JKU in terms of what you get out of an automobile (in an non-offroad context) is vastly underrated.

canaan wrote:that 4.0 6 is one of the best engines known to man. its a shame they got away from it. that thing is a tank.

Agreed. I outfitted mine with a Borla stainless-steel header and exhaust system. It ran and sounded great. Inline-six engines are also inherently balanced and smooth running. I did have some transmission problems (manual transmission), but never anything with the engine.

how many miles did you have on it when you jumped ship? I've heard people say they'd rather have that engine with a 100k miles over most other engines with 10k miles. Manuals are manuals, trannies are always hit or miss (a quote stolen from my autobiography yet to be released lol). The wife had a manual in a 98 mustang that lasted 230k miles before transmission issues. Not bad for a series that wasn't exactly known for their dependability in those regards

Hockeynut! wrote:I told you guys to talk me out of it! ;) Ugh, I love Wranglers so much and the 4 door would indeed be perfect for taking on shoots. My first choice would be an Unlimited Sport model in Crush orange - such a sweet ride.

I dig the crush. Malkamaniac has the dozer...very cool as well. I love the gecko green but I don't think I could deal with that every day. I'm thinking about accenting my deep water blue with that neon green. Probably gonna get wet okole seat covers and re-do the decals in the gecko....eventually.

if you're on the fence, you can drive mine around for a test drive. Haha. I almost bought an islander edition JKU, but I talked myself out of the 4dr for selfish reasons...i didn't want it to be the default family mobile lol.

canaan wrote:how many miles did you have on it when you jumped ship? I've heard people say they'd rather have that engine with a 100k miles over most other engines with 10k miles. Manuals are manuals, trannies are always hit or miss (a quote stolen from my autobiography yet to be released lol). The wife had a manual in a 98 mustang that lasted 230k miles before transmission issues. Not bad for a series that wasn't exactly known for their dependability in those regards

I don’t remember exactly. We bought it used with I think around 50k, and I’m guessing it probably had 80k when we sold it. It was a 1991 YJ. The transmission problems were wacky. The shifter would occasionally jam and the shift lever would let you move into places where it shouldn’t go. Imagine a standard shift pattern of three throws forward and three throws back (5 gears + reverse). When it was acting up, it wouldn’t move to the right in neutral past the center point, but you could push up into what should be third gear and then move the lever over to the right. It's odd we had problems, because the Aisin-Warner AX15 manual transmission has a reputation for being nearly bulletproof. Heck, I think they still make them.

Hockeynut! wrote:I'm trying to talk myself out of buying a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Feel free to chime in and tell me how much they suck so I feel better. :)

I owned a regular Wrangler years ago. Wranglers are loud as heck inside (even with a hardtop), have a bouncy ride, and get lousy fuel economy even though they’re not all that big because they have the aerodynamics of a brick. I agree with mac; a Wrangler would make a really fun second car for weekend adventures, but I wouldn't want to use one as a daily driver.

I must admit I haven’t. I assume they’ve made great strides in terms of noise isolation. According to the EPA, the mileage is pretty much the same as what I got back in the day. The EPA rates the four-door Wrangler with a manual as 16 city / 21 highway / 18 combined and the regular Wrangler as 17/21/18. Automatics are slightly worse. I kept records of fill-ups and I know I got right around 18 mpg, so I was getting right around the same combined mileage with my Wrangler as a brand-new one gets now.

Last week I found a sweet Jeep that I was very close to buying. Unfortunately, it sold the same day I was going to head to the dealership and do the deal. I found another one in VA which is actually an even better deal but I've never bought a vehicle from a dealership that far away and have reservations. Would the warranty still be good at a local Jeep dealer?

I'm also concerned that I'm going to screw up my credit if too many dealers start doing credit inquiries. I'd been approved for financing at the first dealership. I'm very reluctant to fill out another credit application because I've heard multiple credit inquiries can damage your credit. Is that true?

Hockeynut! wrote:Last week I found a sweet Jeep that I was very close to buying. Unfortunately, it sold the same day I was going to head to the dealership and do the deal. I found another one in VA which is actually an even better deal but I've never bought a vehicle from a dealership that far away and have reservations. Would the warranty still be good at a local Jeep dealer?

I'm also concerned that I'm going to screw up my credit if too many dealers start doing credit inquiries. I'd been approved for financing at the first dealership. I'm very reluctant to fill out another credit application because I've heard multiple credit inquiries can damage your credit. Is that true?

can you have the first Jeep dealer get you a like-trim model from another dealer? I know dealers here in Northern Virginia do this all the time.

Hockeynut! wrote:Last week I found a sweet Jeep that I was very close to buying. Unfortunately, it sold the same day I was going to head to the dealership and do the deal. I found another one in VA which is actually an even better deal but I've never bought a vehicle from a dealership that far away and have reservations. Would the warranty still be good at a local Jeep dealer?

I'm also concerned that I'm going to screw up my credit if too many dealers start doing credit inquiries. I'd been approved for financing at the first dealership. I'm very reluctant to fill out another credit application because I've heard multiple credit inquiries can damage your credit. Is that true?

If it's new, the warranty is good at any dealer of that make anywhere.

relantel wrote:Can you have the first Jeep dealer get you a like-trim model from another dealer? I know dealers here in Northern Virginia do this all the time.

relantel, The one I'm looking at now is about 3K under the price I'm getting from closer dealers. I'm not crazy about driving that far but it would definitely be worth it. I'm looking for a Wrangler Sport Unlimited in Crush with a hard top. It's amazingly hard to find, haha. Plus, they discontinued Crush last fall which further complicates things.